Analysis of the Matte Varnishing Structure of Flexible-walled Packaging Materials In the Case of Flexographic Printing Technology

Flexographic printing is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the printing industry. Our related research project examined the potential of matte varnishing as a surface finishing process. Various surface finishing processes, such as various safety varnishes, protective varnishes, barrier varnishes, and the types of matte varnish we have chosen, are playing an increasingly important role in the development of today’s packaging material trend. In the course of the research, we tested the changes in the surface structure of the varnishing layer in the case of varying amounts of lacquer application, and we measured the gloss values in the case of the use of clichés with different surface patterns.

For the tests, we used a type of varnish developed by us, the critical required feature of which was a high degree of heat resistance, and in the development of which the biggest challenge was to achieve fingerprint resistance.
Three different cliché types and three differently applied anilox rollers were used for printing.

The effectiveness of the varnish application is influenced by several factors: the varnish uptake of the printing plate, the printing speed, the printing pressure, the temperature, and the properties of the printing plate and the substrate.